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| Monaco is the toast of the Grand Prix season. |
The view that can only be Monaco, considered the most prized race victory of Formula 1 drivers. Michael Schumacher was looking forward to adding a sixth victory this year, but it was not to be. Both Ralph and Juan Pablo Montoya qualified in excellent positions for this years race.
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| Shocked to on Pole |
Ralf Schumacher grabbed his first ever pole position at Monaco. Juan Pablo Montoya was 3rd, with a McLaren in second. After qualifying was finished Gehard Berger, was quoted in the BMW press release as saying that " we can think about winning the race". If anyone can judge the chances of the BMW FW25, and it's drivers, that must be Gehard Berger a great driver with years of racing at Monaco. He won his bet.
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| Juan Pablo stalking Ralf Schumacher |
Monte Carlo (MCO). Juan Pablo Montoya achieved the first victory of the 2003 season for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team at the Monaco Grand Prix. It is the sixth since the beginning of the team’s partnership which began in 2000, the last victory for the team was at the 2002 Malaysian GP.
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| Juan Pablo during qualifying |
WilliamsF1’s last Monaco victory dates back to 1983 with Keke Rosberg. Montoya celebrated the second win of his F1 career after Monza 2001. Ralf Schumacher finished the race in fourth position. With today’s result, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team closed the gap to rivals McLaren and Ferrari in the Constructors’ World Championship. Montoya and Schumacher are now equal fifth in the drivers’ ranking.
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| Ralf screaming at the start. |
Juan Pablo Montoya: 1st
Chassis: FW25 06 Best time: 1:14.902 min (lap 47, 4th)
Today was the ideal day. The car worked well, the tyres worked well and the team did a fantastic job. We really needed this. It’s fantastic, it’s unreal, there were a few races where I was close to a win and then I just didn’t make it, like in Australia, for example.
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| Both Ralf and Jaun runing away from helpless McLaren |
The key today has been the start, where I was able to jump in front of Kimi and then I set about widening the gap from him before my pit-stops. After that it was just a matter of pacing myself. I was not under too much pressure in the last laps when Kimi was close behind but I had to be alert. The tyres in particular worked very well and were consistent. Winning in Monaco is very special, there is no other race like this in Formula One. It is a bit like winning the Indy 500 in the USA. This is the first time I have finished the race here since I started racing in F1 and I have won it!
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| Michael welcomes Juan Pablo into the "Monaco Club" |
Ralf Schumacher: 4th
Chassis: FW25 05 Best time: 1:14.768 min (lap 77, 3rd)
Obviously it is disappointing to finish fourth when you start on pole especially on a track like Monaco when being on pole means more than anywhere else. The balance of my car was for some reason not ideal after the first pit stop and I could not keep up with the pace of the leaders. Congratulations to Juan Pablo and the whole team for the great result.
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| Ralf got "pole" and started geat, but ended 4th |
This year saw a major change to the famous "Swiming Pool" chicane at Monaco. Monaco's swiming pool has long been one the most famous water hazord in motor racing. This year this section was opened up to allow greater line of sight into the corner and allow greater safety and driver confidence at this critical point. It ws easy to see that this is also a major reason that overall lap speeds this year made dramatic jump higher. Above 100mph lap speed for several of the top drivers.
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| New swiming pool section at Monaco |
Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):
It was a fantastic result for the whole team. Juan did a great job in winning on such a difficult track. The key to success in this race is downforce and mechanical grip. I think today we showed how good the car really is and the tyres worked well too. Ralf started well, had a slow middle stint and made a mistake in the Rascasse in the last stint but it didn’t effect his final finishing position. However, tonight we will be celebrating with the whole team and the guys from Michelin.
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| Just your basic 20mph corner...Ralf leading early |
Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):
This is such a great result, it feels just so good! This success, including yesterday’s pole position, means further motivation for our team. We have felt for a while that we are improving, but did not manage to turn it into results. Juan drove a race without any errors and he kept those behind him under control. Ralf had a little bit of bad luck after both his pit stops when each time a car passed him by fractions of a second.
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| Ralf leading early at the swiming pool |
Photos provided by BMW Press Group. Thanks to our friends at BMW Motorsports Group for allowing us to share the excitement of this first victory of 2003 with our Motorsports Center readers world wide.
